DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 5TH JAN 2017
(Daily News India)
1.
CHINA LAUNCHES FIRST FREIGHT TRAIN TO LONDON
i. China has launched its first freight train
to London.
ii. The train will travel for about 18 days
and more than 12,000 km before reaching its destination in Britain.
iii. It will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia,
Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London.
2.
CENTRE APPROVES NEW PROJECTS FOR GANGA CLEANING OVER RS. 370 CRORE
i. The National Mission for Clean Ganga has
approved many new projects at an estimated cost of over Rs 370 crore for its
ongoing Ganga rejuvenation programme in Haridwar and Varanasi
ii. In Haridwar, 68 MLD sewage treatment
plant in Jagjeetpur and 14 MLD STP in Sarai have been approved at an indicative
cost of Rs 110.30 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively under Hybrid Annuity based
PPP mode.
iii. The ‘Namami Gange’ programme was
launched as a mission to achieve the target of cleaning river Ganga in an
effective manner by involving all stakeholders.
3.
TELANGANA AND ASSAM JOINS UDAY SCHEME
i. Assam and Telangana signed a pact with the
Power Minister, Piyush Goyal to join the UDAY scheme in New Delhi in a bid to
improve the performance of state run power distribution companies.
ii. Since the launch of the UDAY Scheme, the
Power Ministry has signed Agreements with 18 states to join the Scheme. With
the joining of Assam and Telangana, the total states covered under the scheme
rose to 20.
4.
FINLAND BECOME 1ST COUNTRY IN WORLD TO PAY BASIC INCOME TO RANDOMLY PICKED
CITIZENS ON NATIONAL LEVEL
i. Finland become First country in world to
pay basic income to Citizens to ensure a universal income offering greater
security, especially as technological advances reduce the need for human
labour.
ii. Its main aim to tackle unemployment,
which stands at 8.1 percent in a nation of 5.5 million.
iii. Under this programme every month 2,000
selected unemployed will get 560 Euros.
5.
MUNICH RE TO OPEN REINSURANCE BRANCH OFFICE IN MUMBAI
i. Germany based Munich Reinsurance Company
has planned to open its branch office in Mumbai to provide the
property-casualty, life, health reinsurance markets in India.
ii. Munich Re is one of the first foreign
reinsurers to receive approval for a dedicated branch in India.
6.
YES BANK TIES-UP WITH BAJAJ ELECTRICALS FOR VENDOR FINANCING USING BLOCK CHAIN
i. Yes Bank has tied-up with Bajaj
Electricals for vendor financing using block chain solution.
ii. Block chain solutions is a distributed
database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called
blocks
iv. ICICI Bank was the India’s first bank to
execute its first transaction on block chain.
7.
PAYTM GETS FINAL APPROVAL FROM RBI TO START OPERATING AS PAYMENT BANK
i. Mobile commerce and payments company,
Paytm has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India to launch
Paytm Payment Bank.
ii. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd is supposed to
start its operation in next 30-60days with its first branch in Noida, Uttar
Pradesh.
iii. Paytm Payments Bank is held 51% by
Sharma and 49% by One97 Communications Pvt. Paytm Ltd.
iv. Paytm Payments Bank has set a target of
200 million accounts, across current and savings accounts, and mobile wallets,
within 12 months of the launch. It aims to touch half a billion accounts by
2020.
8.
AZURE POWER COMMISSIONS LARGEST (150MW) SOLAR POWER PROJECT
i. Solar power producer Azure Power
commissioned 150 MW solar power project in Punjab.
ii. Azure Power had signed a solar power
implementation agreement with Punjab Energy Development Agency under its Solar
Policy Phase III.
iii. The 150 MW solar power plant represents
a portfolio of three projects of 50 MW each.
9.
GOOGLE DEDICATES DOODLE TO SAVITRIBAI PHULE’S 186TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY
i. Technology Giant Google dedicated its
doodle to renowned social reformer Savitribai Phule’s 186th birth anniversary
which was on 3rd January..
ii. Savitrabai Phule and her husband founded
the first all women’s school at Bhide Wada, Pune and later she went on to
become India’s first woman teacher and headmistress.
iii. The Government of Maharashtra has
instituted an award in her name to honour women social reformers.
10.
WORLD BRAILLE DAY: JANUARY 4
i. World Braille Day is observed on 4th
January across the world to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille who is
credited with inventing the Braille language which helps blind people to read
as well as write.
ii. Its main objective to raise awareness
about issues facing the blind and the importance of continuing to produce works
in Braille
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED
ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1.
WHICH COUNTRY HAS ANNOUNCED FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND INITIATIVE TO OFFER SOME BASIC
PAY TO UNEMPLOYED CITIZENS EVERY MONTH SELECTED ON RANDOM BASIS?
a)
Finland
b)
Norway
c)
Sweden
d)
Russia
Q2.
WITH WHICH BANK CONSUMER ELECTRICAL GOODS MANUFACTURER BAJAJ ELECTRICALS HAS
TIED UP TO PROVIDE DIGITALIZED PAYMENT TO ITS VENDOR USING BLOCK CHAIN
TECHNOLOGY?
a)
ICICI Bank
b)
HDFC Bank
c)
Andhra Bank
d) Yes
Bank
Q3. NAME THE SOCIAL REFORMER AND RENOWNED POET TO
WHOM GOOGLE DEDICATED ITS DOODLE TO PAY TRIBUTE ON HER 186TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY?
a)
Mary Harris
b)
Vijay Lakshmi Pandit
c)
Savitribai Phule
d)
Annie Besant
Q4.
WORLD BRAILLE DAY IS OBSERVED ON?
a)
January 3
b)
January 4
c)
January 2
d)
January 5
Q5.
WHICH MOBILE COMMERCE AND PAYMENTS FIRM HAS RECEIVED THE FINAL APPROVAL FROM
RBI TO OPERATE AS PAYMENT BANK?
a)
Freecharge
b)
Oxigen
c)
Paytm
d) MobiKwik
ANSWER:
1
- A 2 - D 3 - C 4 - B 5 - C
